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SEP–DEC 2023 THE REVIEW | 13 FEATURE because you have to think about lots of different things.” Growing up, Va, who is Samoan, was a shy child and teenager who didn’t accept her disability. “At college I was still conscious about it. My physio came in to explain my Cerebral Palsy to another student. That’s when I understood more about it. “I began to find acceptance. I slowly built friendships. I felt more comfortable in my own skin – a little bit.” Cerebral Palsy affects Va’s left side – meaning she is very weak on that side, her balance is not great, and she can’t lift anything heavy. It means simple tasks require a bit of extra thought and planning – like grocery shopping. Va goes with her best friend, and fellow Cerebral Palsy Society member, Luhama Niu. Va carries the light bags while the heavy bags are hung on the handlebars of Luhama’s wheelchair. Since leaving high school, Va has worked in early childhood education, volunteered with youth and completed a business administration course. She’s spent the past two years as a teacher aide at Mangere Bridge School where she currently works with a 5-year- old girl who has autism and global developmental delay. Va says because she’s been through the mainstream education system while living with a disability, she has a unique and different perspective to bring to the students she works with. “I knowwhen to push kids. I know what works and what doesn’t. I want them to love to learn.” She also works in the school’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes. Va says the Cerebral Palsy Society has helped her a lot since she became a member in 2010. She takes advantage of the getOutThere funding, which means she can get taxis to her Sunday morning ballroom dancing lessons. “I’m blessed,” she says. “It goes a long way for those who can’t drive.” Through two Individual Grants Va was also given the opportunity to try and achieve one of her goals of gaining her driver’s licence. The Society provided Va with funding to sit a series of lessons and to get a driving occupational Va has a simple wish for her fellow Kiwis living with Cerebral Palsy. “My hope is that people will be ok to be themselves, to try something newwithout holding back.” therapy assessment – support she was very grateful for. However, the outcome of those lessons and the assessment was not what Va was hoping for. Learning she can’t drive for “medical reasons” was “a hard pill to swallow”. “But I had to go through that process to realise it.” But Va hasn’t let the end of that dream slow her down, and she has a simple wish for her fellow Kiwis living with Cerebral Palsy. “My hope is that people will be ok to be themselves, to try something newwithout holding back,” the 32-year-old says. You can read the full article with Va here: tinyurl.com/3ms6ny6w Opposite page: Va Filemoni loves her job as a teacher aide. Photo by Melanie Louden. Above left: Ballroom dancing is a good challenge for Va, pictured with her dance teacher Alex Prykhno. Right: Va, pictured as a toddler with her dad, is making the most of opportunities that come her way.